Final: Dayton 31, Kerrville Tivy 28

After a crazy turn of events, Dayton wins 31-28 and advances to the state championship game.

Kerrville Tivy was driving in the final minute when Matt Ayala caught a ball at the Dayton 38. On his way down, A.J. Dugat yanked the ball away and returned it to the Tivy 18.

Dugat’s play set up a 24-yard field goal by Cody Green as time expired.

Dayton ties it back with 1:50 left.

Green finds Damian Berotte for an 8-yard TD.

Dayton gets down to the Tivy 33, then runs into some trouble. A motion penalty pushes it back, then a rush for a loss and an incomplete pass leaves Dayton with third-and-16. Dugat catches a 12-yard pass and the game hinges on Dayton with fourth-and-4 at the Tivy 27.

On fourth-and-4, everybody figured Dugat was going to get the ball, and he still managed to get open on a curl for a 17-yard gain.

Two plays later, Berotte was into the end zone.

Josh Menke almost blocks the extra point, but can’t get his arms up in time.

28-28, 1:50 remaining.

Both teams trade punts, although Tivy did get some momentum going on its possession. Dayton takes over at its own 29, with 6:13 left in the game.

Kerrville Tivy takes advantage of a Dayton fumble and takes the lead going into the fourth quarter.

A.J. Dugat fumbled at the Dayton 38, and Tivy marched on a seven-play drive that Palmer finished off with a 1-yard run.

Johnny Manziel injured his shoulder earlier in the drive. We’ll update you if he comes back.

Tivy 28, Dayton 21, five seconds left in the third quarter.

On fourth down, Colton Palmer finds Johnny Manziel in the end zone for a 7-yard TD to tie the game.

It finishes off a 12-play, 69-yard TD drive that had Tivy down to 4th-and-2 on the Dayton 7. Palmer rolled out to the left, while Manziel was immediately open in the end zone.

Manziel was definitely not the first receiver on that play, and was frantically waving his arms in the end zone for three seconds while he still wasn’t being covered. Palmer eventually found him for the score.

Tivy 21, Dayton 21, 6:08 left in the third quarter.

Tivy has a 47-yard field goal attempt at the end of the half go wide left, so the score stays at 14-14.

On the way to their locker rooms at the break, Tivy and Dayton coaches got into a shouting match. Referees had to get in between the coaches, and it should make the second half pretty fun.

This is a complete guess, but that altercation may stem from a moment on the field in the second quarter when referees had to stop the game and warn both teams about their hitting. The stoppage came when the Dayton offense was on the field, Dayton QB Cody Green was tackled low on a keeper, and got up angry.

With a trip to the state championship game on the line and this game tied at the half, there was already plenty of intrigue for the second half. Now the sidelines are even going to be fun to watch.

Just before halftime, we have a tie game.

Cody Green finds Payton Ploch for a 28-yard TD pass and we’re even at 14-14.

Green looked a little like Tim Tebow on his TD pass, acting like he was going to run, then stopping to throw to Ploch. Ploch broke two tackles on his way to the end zone On the two-point conversion, Green’s pass to Damian Berotte in the end zone may have hit the ground, but none of the referees had a good vantage point. After they looked at each other for a few seconds, they decided to rule it a complete pass.

Sulphur Springs just upset Everman 47-34 in the other Class 4A Division II semifinal, and is going to play the winner of this game.

Dayton 14, Tivy 14, 1:19 left in the half.

Well that was just one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen. Dayton was pinned back to its own 10 and punting into the wind. The punt by Brian McBride was shanked and bounced backwards.

A Dayton player dove and downed it at the Dayton 1 for a minus-9 yard punt. Yes, an unblocked minus-9 yard punt.

If the Dayton player let the ball go into the end zone, it would have been a safety. Instead, Tivy gets the best field position possible. Two plays later, Colton Palmer dives in for a 1-yard TD.

Tivy 14, Dayton 6, 4:45 left in the second quarter.

Now everybody’s being gutsy. Tivy tries a fake punt on fourth down and Colton Palmer is stopped for a six-yard loss.

The Antlers also unsuccessfully tried a double-reverse pass that went incomplete on the drive.

On the following drive, Dayton goes for it again on fourth down, this time on fourth-and-7 from the Tivy 37. A screen pass goes for no gain, and Tivy gets the ball back with 9:33 left in the half.

Marc Cantu gets a big fumble recovery for Tivy on the Antlers’ 28. Dayton had a 4th-and-2 at the Tivy 24, when Cody Green fumbled the shotgun snap. Cantu was there to dive on the ball and Tivy could take control of the game.

Some gutsy moves by Dayton on this drive. The Broncos went for it on fourth-and-3 from the Tivy 41 and convert, but their second 4th down try doesn’t work out.

Tivy 7, Dayton 6, 11:53 left in the second quarter.

Tivy comes back with the perfect response, an 8-play, 75-yard drive finished off by a 15-yard TD pass from Palmer to Logan Vick.

A textbook Tivy drive where six different players touched the ball, including a 12-yard end around by Matt Ayala and a 17-yard catch by Kelby Beard.

On Palmer’s TD throw, he created with his scrambling ability. Trapped in the backfield,

Palmer ran around for about five seconds before throwing across his body to find Vick on the right sideline.

Tivy 7, Dayton 6, 3:54 left in the first.

Dayton strikes first, scoring on a 6-yard run by A.J. Dugat. Dugat touched the ball four times on the 60-yard drive for 52 total yards. Two carries for 20 yards and two catches for 32 yards.

Dugat, a University of Houston commit, showed some nice elusiveness to get outside on his touches.

The Antlers are keeping a close watch on Green, and defensive back Marc Cantu made a nice tackle on Green for no gain. But Green’s not the one to be worried about right now.

Cody Green’s extra point attempt is blocked to make the score 6-0. Green’s a straight-ahead kicker instead of soccer style, which is pretty weird to see now.

Dayton 6-0, 7:04 left in the first quarter.

Tivy takes the opening possession from its own 20 and starts with very conservative play-calling by Tivy’s standards – or any standards for that matter. Quincy Kibbett runs twice for no gain and Colton Palmer keeps it for seven yards.

Tivy’s going into a pretty strong wind here, one I’d guess at 15 miles per hour, which might explain that first series.

Lorne Chan here at the Georgetown ISD Athletic Stadium for Tivy and Dayton.

About 20 minutes before kickoff, the Antlers have already filled up four of the six section on the visitors side. The Antlers have been bringing a solid crowd throughout their playoff run, with part of the credit there going to the family of sophomore quarterback/wide receiver Johnny Manziel. The Manziels have packed an old 70s-style bus with Tivy fans and taken it to every playoff game.

This is Tivy’s fourth trip to the state semifinals, and first since 1988. The Antlers have had a relatively easy road here, without having played a district champion in the playoffs yet.

Dayton’s definitely going to be Tivy’s toughest test, with quarterback and Nebraska commit Cody Green leading the Broncos.

Tivy’s only allowed 12.8 points per game in the playoffs, but I doubt it can keep the average that low against Green.

If this turns into a shootout, it should be interesting to see how well Tivy quarterback Colton Palmer trades punches with Green. Palmer had five total TDs last week against Pflugerville Hendrickson and was 23 for 33 passing.

17 Responses

I Guess with all the Negative Feed back I forgot to mention the most important thing. How very very proud of our Fighting Tivy Antlers we are. This team has held it together through thick and thin. This team has nothing to be ashamed of, each and everyone of them are winners and showed that each and every game. You were able to walk out with your heads held high knowing you did your best. You know in your hearts you are winners and you carry that with you thru life like true winners do… TFand Never Die and Always be Proud!!!

I think it is just SICK the way some people act now a days about a game that is supposed to build character. I had to stop some people from Dayton that were going to vandalize a truck because it had antlers on it in the parking lot. Guess what it belonged to a Dayton fan. Christmas(stupid people) And the Race card give it a break!!! My nephews whom I could not love more are 1/2 black and I am white. The Race thing is over there have not been slaves for centuries… If it quacks like a duck it is probably a duck. If it acts like a Thug like a lot (not all) of the Dayton fans your probably a Thug…This includes coaches that start fights.And bad calls for which we have actual video of…

Left early, but this was a good game. Well played. Dayton: better athletes by a smidgen. Tivy: better coached by a smidgen. I think Tivy had a slightly better line and technique. That should be the difference maker. 35-28.

Cody Green will break loose for 2 long TD runs and complete 2 TD passes to Dugat, but Dayton will have a hard time shutting down Tivy’s offense. Maybe 42 to 28 in favor of the Antlers. However, if it’s close, Tivy’s got a couple of great field goal kickers.

Dayton is pretty pumped up about their chances. Go to http://www.chron.com/sports/highschool. That is the Houston Chronicle website and they have a high school football blog spot. Dayton fans are white hot for their team and thumping their chests hard.

They have a hot quarterback too and are proud of their defense. I think it will be a good game but Tivy will win. AFter seeing how they played Plugerville – this team is on a mission – to win state.

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